Lesson 2

Is the Bible Trustworthy?

This question has two senses with one relating authenticity and the other accuracy. We must address these two senses separately to avoid muddling the issues.

Is the Bible Authentic?

The idea of authenticity is based on the supposition that there exists a real thing and we wish to know if something is the real thing. In our case, we suppose that there exists a set of original writings which we collectively refer to as the Bible. It is worth knowing that we do not have the original manuscripts but only copies of them. All our translations of the Bible are based on these copies. The natural question to ask is, “Are the scriptures as we know them today authentic?” If we were to recover the original manuscripts, how closely do the copies and the original compare? For instance, the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses make a habit of attacking the authenticity of the Bible in order to justify the existence of their extra-biblical literatures.

There are several industry standards to check the authenticity of ancient texts, such as transmission and textual variants. The transmission of the Old Testament during the 100—500 A.D. was carried out by a very stringent Talmudic tradition which required a codex be burned or buried if it contained an error of even the smallest letter.[1] Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered, the oldest Old Testament manuscript was the Masoretic text which is dated 980 A.D. The Dead Sea Scroll is about a thousand years older than the Masoretic text. It contains a complete copy of Isaiah. Amazingly, the Isaiah Scroll shows that there is no significant variation in the text over a thousand years of transmission. The authenticity of the Old Testament during the periods prior to the Dead Sea Scrolls is not easily proven because of the scarcity of data. The New Testament is in a much better shape as far as textual evidence is concerned. There are over 24,000 early manuscripts of the New Testament.[2] Scholars have studied these manuscripts for centuries and concluded from textual analysis that only less than half percent of the New Testament is in doubt.[3]

We cannot guarantee that the collections in the Bible are identical to the originals. So far, new discoveries of manuscripts seem to always authenticate the Bible. We do not have any reason to believe that this favorable situation will change in the future. Furthermore, the textual variants bear no major ramification in theology. It has been said that if we were to uncover the original manuscripts, at least 90% of our theology will not change as a result of it.

Is the Bible Always Right?

The previous question on authenticity has to do with whether we have the right Bible. The next question we wish to answer is one related to whether the Bible is right.

The difficulties of the Bible are that it contains too much controversial materials, such as the creation, miracles, monotheism and exclusivism. First of all, it is fair to say that these matters are not intuitively obvious. Secondly the volatile nature of the subjects have a tendency to invite objections. Before one is willing to commit to the Bible’s unusual claims, one must have a conviction that the Bible is accurate.

An analogy may be helpful here. When my car has troubles, I talk to a mechanic, not a car salesman, because I learn from experience that the mechanic has a history of giving the right answers in these matters but the car salesman does not. In other words, trust is built on a reputation which in turn is built on a history.

It is amazing that not one single fact in Bible has been proven wrong in human history. On the contrary, the Bible has been continuously vindicated by science, archaeology and history. Long before the discovery of celestial mechanics, Job proclaimed that “He [God] spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing” (Job 26:7). The scientific integrity of the Bible can be seen in the fact that creationists are still able to defend Genesis 1—2 even after decades of attacks from the atheistic scientists. In archaeology, many cities and nations mentioned only in Bible were first thought to be non-existent but were later unearthed.[4] The credibility of the Bible is also augmented through fulfilled prophecies. For example, all of the prophecies about Christ are fulfilled; so are those of many ancient nations.[5] The Bible coheres extremely well with secular history. In short the Bible has an incontrovertible track record. Therefore we have confidence to believe that the Bible is inerrant.

How do I know?

Critics will say that confidence is not proof; and I agree. The fact is that not every knowledge claim can be proven with mathematical rigor. There is something called the Gödel Incompleteness Theorem which in essence says that all proofs will eventually be traced back to a set of axioms which are not provable.[6]

Claim: Truth that is properly basic cannot be proven.

A basic truth is one that does not depend on any other truths. For example, is a basic truth. But is not a basic truth because it depends on the fact that . Basic truths cannot be proven just like cannot be proven. But non-basic truths are proven by a number of more basic truths. Formally, this claim is expressed in mathematical logic as the Gödel Incompleteness Theorem.[7]

In epistemology (theory of knowledge), it is commonly agreed that knowledge is at least “justified true belief.” There are at least 5 levels of the justification of knowledge[8]:

1. Certain—self-presenting or a priori knowledge. p is certain means: For every q, believing p is more justified than withholding q, or believing p is at least as justified as believing q.

2. Evident—p is evident means: For every q, believing p is at least as justified as withholding q.

3. Beyond reasonable doubt—p is beyond reasonable doubt if believing p is more justified than withholding p.

4. Probable—p is probable if believing p is more justified than believing ~p.

5. Counterbalanced—p is counterbalanced if believing p is as justified as believing ~p.

These formal definitions are quite technical. One can get a sense of what these words mean through the examples below:

Certain—One plus one is two.
Evident—All living cells contain water.
Beyond reasonable doubt—The Internet was invented in America.
Probable—Wisdom grows with age.
Counterbalanced—America is a Christian nation.

Certainty is not always required to justify a knowledge claim. In fact, it is not obtainable except in very restricted circumstances. In court, if suffices to judge a case when the truth is beyond reasonable doubt. In less severe daily situations, counterbalance may be adequate. In our case, I would say that it is at least beyond reasonable doubt that the Bible is reliable.

One may wonder why God does not arrange events so that spiritual truths are known with certainty. Of course, if it were the case, there would not be room to exercise our faith. The result is counter-productive as far as God is concerned because without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Some theologians speculate that God might have distanced Himself intentionally so that we may have greater opportunities to exercise our faith. The theme of God’s hidden-ness prevails throughout the Bible. This separation is referred to as the “epistemic distance.”

Hopefully I have adequately emphasized the point that, although we can never know matters of faith with certainty, there is enough evidence to support our belief that the Bible is authentic and inerrant.